Gospel
by macstooge
Summary: Stuck in an abusive relationship, Cloud never wanted anything more to be free but his freedom comes with a price. Mentioned CloudxSeph SephxCloud CloudxLeon LeonxCloud. MATURE/CHARACTER DEATH/SUICIDE I don't own any of the characters just the plot line


The bathroom was silent save for the endless running of water from the bathtub and the splashing as the water ran over the edge of it only to create an inch deep puddle on the floor. A soft shuddering sigh broke the almost silent room as a blonde boy hesitantly made his way to the medicine cabinet that hung on the wall over the sink. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he winced before opening the cabinet harshly and retrieving an unopened bottle of pain killers. Not even bothering to check the label of the bottle, he slammed the medicine cabinet door shut and caught another glimpse of himself with his limp blonde spikes, dulled cerulean blue eyes and sallow hollowed out skin which was littered with blossoming black and blue bruises. A strangled gasp like noise left his throat as he flicked his gaze to the bottle of pills in his hand. This was it; there would be no more pain after this, no more heart wrenching guilt or the loneliness of isolation. With another soft shudder of a sigh, the blonde shakily opened the bottle, tearing the plastic away tentatively, cringing when it made a loud crinkling noise. Eyes nervously glanced at the locked bathroom door, waiting for the angry beating on the door to begin at any moment.

With a sigh of relief, the blonde turned back to the now opened bottle and shook out a few pills into his awaiting hand. Small and pale pink in colouring, they sat in his palm harmlessly though the sight of them inspired a fear inside of him that he hadn't known was there. The blonde closed his eyes and allowed a tear to escape, the fear of the unknown nearly frightening him into placing the pills back into the bottle. Shaking his head, the blonde sighed, he would never be free unless he did this. Sephiroth would make sure he lived only to hate himself even more. Inhaling deeply, he opened his eyes to see his resolve firm in his reflection. Taking one last lingering glance at his reflection, he brought his hand to his mouth and shoved the pills in between his lips. Swallowing the pills bit by bit, he felt a calm wash over him that he hadn't felt in such a long time. His suicide brought the relief and security he used to feel, crash into his weary body and warm him from the inside.

In this period of calm though, he sunk into the memories of his wretched life, reliving the terror of his last years on Earth. The abuse that he had suffered had broken him slowly, always hidden by a soft touch or an apology. But the soft touches and apologies were stretched thin between the beatings and raping. The blonde didn't know why it had taken him this long to get to this point; the point where he thought killing himself was the only way to be free. His lover had caused both physical and emotional scarring throughout their five year relationship but he had kept coming back. He knew his lover would never change, and he would never let him go. With every apology, there was a thinly veiled threat of never being able to leave but he hadn't cared, all he wanted was the sweet caress that often only came after nearly dying from his lover's frequent abuse.

A sharp pain in his abdomen broke the golden glow of his suicide's freedom and the reel of memories as his stomach tried to reject the pills. His mouth began to froth as he dropped to his knees from the piercing pain in his belly, reducing him to all fours on the floor. Dizzy from the overdose, he vaguely heard thumping and yelling coming from behind the locked door. His vision swooning, he closed his eyes and found peace as the pills brought him under their influence, blocking out the angered thumping. "Cloud! What the fuck are you doing?! CLOUD!" An angry voice yelled from beyond the wooden door. He frowned as the sound of the door splitting open crashed through his drug induced trance and a blackened figured stood over him continuing to yell angrily at his relaxed figure laying in the now deeper puddle on the bathroom floor. "The fuck did you do? You useless waste of space!" The voice screamed as he sat on the blonde's swooning frame. He could feel his relaxed muscles trying to frown as he wondered who Cloud could be and why this man was yelling at him. Then like a bucket of water in the face, he remembered that his own name was Cloud.

Cloud tried to blink open his eyes but the pills held strong against his body, keeping his muscles far too relaxed to allow even opening his eyes for a brief moment. This seemed to make the owner of the angry voice even madder, causing him to continue shouting unintelligibly. Cloud heard the sound of skin smacking skin before he realised what had happened; the owner of the angered voice had hit him, sending his already swooning world reeling. He figured there should have been some semblance of pain but the golden glow of the pills clung to his psyche, cloying onto his thoughts as the pills tried to drag him under once more, away from the yelling, away from the pain of his aching body and away from the heart that betrayed him over and over. "You're so useless, Cloud. Can't even kill yourself properly? Don't worry, I'll help." The angry voice spat, his words cutting through the golden haze like a poisonous scythe.

Two hands wrapped around the blonde's throat, causing the warm and golden glow to disappear as he began struggling helplessly against the angry black figure. Cloud felt a raspy gasp choke out of his mouth, the blackened figure pulling him out of the relaxed honeyed world he had slipped into. The pain having awoken him slightly from the pain killers, Cloud briefly opened his eyes to see a glint of silver hair above his helpless and weak body, pale arms twitching from the intense pressure of choking the blonde and vicious sea green eyes that yearned for the blonde. "Seph-...-iroth.." Cloud managed to gasp, through the two hands that had loosened slightly around his neck. "L-Let me..go." The blonde choked before his facial muscles weakened and left him silent. The once blackened figure stiffened before tightening his grasp on the blonde's slender neck, causing his vision to spike once more before Cloud lost himself to the golden and slightly nauseating glow of the pills. _I can't even escape him in my suicide_, Cloud thought as he succumbed to the pills. As the overdose finally overcame his tired psyche and muscles, the blonde heard a second angry voice and his world was shaken once more as a second blackened figure knocked the first off his weakened body. Inhaling deeply for the last time, Cloud smiled as his thoughts were overtaken by a comforting numbness.

_Thump...Thump...Thump_. Cloud's psyche was slowly stirred awake as he felt his heart beat forcibly start. Unable to open his eyes still, he could feel two hands on his chest, performing CPR on his near lifeless body, stopping every now and then to breathe oxygen into his starved lungs. _Only you would be this cruel Leon, _Cloud thought as his chest was hammered by the two powerful hands of his childhood friend. "Get up, Cloud! You can't die like this." A deep voice growled as he continued CPR on the blonde's pale and thin body. "I love you." The voice murmured as a pitter patter of tears fell onto the blonde's chest. As the brunette breathed oxygen into his lungs once again, Cloud could feel his body start up, causing him to gasp and shudder back to life. His body still swooning and under the influence of drugs, Cloud barely managed to open his eyes and murmur a soft "Leon." before he fell back into his comatose state.

"Mr Leonhart? We managed to pump his stomach and retrieve most of the pills that he swallowed. He's very lucky that you happened by when you did, otherwise he would have surely died." The doctor murmured, alerting the pacing brunette of the good news. "So when will he be awake?" Leon asked, turning to face stormy grey eyes to the doctor's own brown eyes. The doctor sighed before shrugging her shoulders. "Mr Strife is in a drug induced coma still. We have to wait until the drugs are out of his system to be sure." She explained, smiling sadly at the brunette who visibly wilted in front of her. "Can..I at least see him?" Leon asked, perking a little at the thought of seeing the blonde. The doctor continued to smile sadly but nodded and moved away from the door.

Entering the cold and silent hospital room, Leon's nose was assaulted by the strong smell of bleach and other high grade chemicals and a faint smell of flowers. As his eyes carefully took everything in, they flitted over the form of the comatose blonde, hooked up to several machines and hoses. Guilt weighing heavily in his heart, Leon hesitantly made his way towards the hospital bed when he heard a soft whisper. Turning around to see the door still shut behind him, Leon shrugged before continuing to make his way slowly to the bed. He stopped though when he felt a cold shiver run through his body and the faintest of breaths tickled his ear as he heard the whisper once again. Ignoring the whispers, Leon finally made it to the side of the bed and looked over the battered and bruised form of the beautiful angel that lay silently under his gaze. Hearing a faint beeping noise, Leon looked up to see the heart rate monitor with a faint heart beat beeping along next to him. He hadn't noticed that when he first entered the room. Exhaling loudly, he stiffened when the cold shiver ran through his body again and he heard the whisper for the last time. _"If you love me, let me go."_ Leon knew it was Cloud that was whispering to him , begging for release from this world. Nodding, the brunette felt tears he hadn't known were there run down both his cheeks as he removed the blonde's oxygen mask, replacing it with one of the extra pillows by the bed. "I love you." Leon murmured, as he placed both of his hands on top of the glaring white pillow. With a shuddering breath, the brunette pressed down on the pillow as the heart rate monitor flared to life with a few startlingly loud panicked heart beats that slowly faded to the long and continuous beep of a flat line.


End file.
